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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | ISRO / Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) / CASC |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇮🇳 India | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | In Development | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | Solid (HTPB, stages 1–3) / MMH-MON3 liquid (velocity trimming module) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2022 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration with downrange barge landing — this is the single payload figure Rocket Lab publishes. ~15,000 kg expendable. ↑ Best | 500 kgas of [1]500 km altitude, 35–55° inclination. 300 kg to 500 km SSO. | 12,000 kgas of [1]At 200 km altitude; 10,000 kg at 300 km. |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 43 mas of [1] | 34 mas of [1] | 62 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | ~481 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 120 tas of [1] | 433 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | — | 2/3 (67%)as of [1]First flight (Aug 2022) partial failure — satellites reached a lower-than-planned orbit. Second and third flights successful. | 100% (6/6)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Total flights | — | 3as of [1] | 6as of [1]All six flights deployed Guowang (China SatNet) internet-constellation satellites, exclusively from Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ₹30–35 crore per launch (~$3.1M–$3.6M)as of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | — |
| Summary | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. | ISRO's small-satellite launcher, designed for quick-turnaround dedicated smallsat missions. Full manufacturing, marketing and launch rights were transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in June 2025 under a technology-transfer agreement. | A medium-lift, kerosene/LOX launcher built specifically to deploy China's Guowang mega-constellation at high cadence from Wenchang's new commercial pads. |
48 launch vehicles across 10 countries — active, retired, and in development — with primary-source citations from manufacturer user guides and agency press kits. Pure URL state: bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.